Challenges and Opportunities for Innovation in Teaching and Learning in an Interdisciplinary Environment

Dima, Alina Mihaela

doi:10.4018/978-1-4666-1969-2.ch017

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 44 publications

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“…It is also difficult to publish interdisciplinary work. Innovation in education has mostly been linked to technology, but innovation can also be applied in teaching and learning in an interdisciplinary environment (Dima, 2013).…”

Section: Interdisciplinary Engagementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Integrating Interdisciplinary Thinking and Practice: a Case Study of a Victorian University in Australia

Iyer‐Raniga¹

EPiC Series in Education Science

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The value of interdisciplinary approaches to curriculum have been considered successful along multiple fronts; including reducing administrative burden from inter departmental collaboration, providing "intellectual" solutions to problems and breaking academic discipline boundaries. Criticism from industry often focuses on educators not preparing graduates for work in the real world. A major reason underpinning this criticism is that the students are not exposed to the requisite skills to make them workready. Despite the pressures to include interdisciplinary approaches from an ethical perspective, putting it into practice is difficult. This paper presents the findings of involving students from three different schools from a Victorian university in Australia: built environment, business and computer science. The project was developed as part of a state government competitive fund where industry, staff and students worked together to support each other and realize mutual benefits. The aim of the study was to develop an approach involving students in a theory-practice model of a real world project by selecting a building within the university as a case study to arm students with real world knowledge focusing on sustainability outcomes. The objective was to assist in preparing students from different disciplines for better workplace experiences, where they can bring in interdisciplinary thinking and practice into their day-day operations. The outcomes for the university, in using this building as a living laboratory, was to capture lessons learned through the process of improving future building developments from a sustainability perspective. Student involvement was successful, but true interdisciplinary engagement was not achieved.

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Section: Interdisciplinary Engagementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Integrating Interdisciplinary Thinking and Practice: a Case Study of a Victorian University in Australia

Iyer‐Raniga¹

EPiC Series in Education Science

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Interdisciplinary Engagement in Higher Education: Opportunities Explored

Iyer‐Raniga¹

2020

Innovations in Higher Education - Cases on Transforming and Advancing Practice

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There are increasing pressures on universities to make their graduates ready for life and work, in addition to ensuring technical and professional competence. This chapter discusses the implications of supporting such an approach for higher education in a university in Australia where the university was treated as an urban living lab, supporting student engagement for a course innovated to cover three different disciplines. Urban living labs are a form of collaborative partnership particularly in urban areas to support sustainability outcomes. The innovation presented here was in using a green building on campus, bringing students from different disciplines, to study this green building, thereby also partnering with industry. The key question driving the research was whether academic-industry partnerships may be used to understand the performance of green buildings on an urban campus. The anchor course was in construction management and the other disciplines were business and computer science. Twenty three students undertook study of predetermined spaces of a green building on campus. The results show that as a pilot study, this project was successful, with good engagement of students, teaching and non-teaching staff from the university and industry. However, it was more difficult to convert the pilot to mainstream teaching and learning.

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Challenges and Opportunities for Innovation in Teaching and Learning in an Interdisciplinary Environment

Cited by 2 publications

References 44 publications

Integrating Interdisciplinary Thinking and Practice: a Case Study of a Victorian University in Australia

Integrating Interdisciplinary Thinking and Practice: a Case Study of a Victorian University in Australia

Interdisciplinary Engagement in Higher Education: Opportunities Explored

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